Author Topic: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]  (Read 386 times)

bushwacka

  • Instructor
  • 400 Posts
  • **
  • Posts: 471
Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« on: July 14, 2011, 05:32:59 pm »


click pictures above to see some great picture and read about my misfortunes.

LivingProof

  • Global Moderator
  • 400 Posts
  • *
  • Posts: 892
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2011, 06:24:53 am »
Josh

Link does not work, at least for me

ToddW

  • 4-6 Year Member
  • 200 Posts
  • ****
  • Posts: 320
  • Location: Westchester, NY

LivingProof

  • Global Moderator
  • 400 Posts
  • *
  • Posts: 892
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2011, 03:01:48 pm »
I'm thinking that one advantage of riding a multi-speed bike is that the chain begins to make all sorts of noise as it deteriorates. Never experienced a broken link. Reminds me to clean my chain.

Nice pics of Stowe....can really see the sleeping man contour of the peaks. Damn, I need to return and ski there this winter. Only 5 months or so.

jim-ratliff

  • 6+ Year Member
  • 1000 Posts
  • ******
  • Posts: 2739
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2011, 03:34:20 pm »

Josh, here's why the link didn't work:
%22http//unofficialnetworks.com/eagles-broken-chains-singletrack-great-day-riding-stowe-30945/"
don't know that the %22 is (%20 is a blank), but no ":" after http.

Awesome pictures.  I like the EWOK reference.

And I've never seen a chain break like that either, even on farm machinery that has lots of chains, longer chains, and much more power going through them. 

The link itself is usually the strongest part.  There must have been a frozen pin at one end or the other?
Was this a connecting link, maybe the link had been bent at some point in the past? Still bizarre.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2011, 03:36:46 pm by jim-ratliff »
"If you're gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right."

bushwacka

  • Instructor
  • 400 Posts
  • **
  • Posts: 471
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2011, 04:08:56 pm »
its weird I checked the link everywhere else and it worked :(.

as for the broken chain both ends pins were in good shape. Nothing frozen. I can peak at 1900 watts and leg press over a 1000lb, when it happen I jumped on it to get up short little incline, and then this happened. I literally broke this thing with brute strength.

LivingProof

  • Global Moderator
  • 400 Posts
  • *
  • Posts: 892
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2011, 01:16:40 pm »
Just thinking out loud, but, riding a single speed MTN bike may just be a worst case for stressing a chain. Without gearing, the rider only has personal power in a difficult ascent. If it's thousands of miles old, cyclical stress results in metal fatigue and can easily be a factor in weakening the link. Are shock loadings associated with going to full power, from almost no power, something that happens in Mountain Bike riding?

I found very small circular cracks in my former Trek frame during a pre-season inspection. I wounder what a close exam of the other links in that chain would show? Engineering for a bike chain should push metal tolerance to keep weight and space down.

PS - Drivetrain is now clean and a quick visual inspection shows no issues. But, hey, I'm a weak, old roadie. (and skier! :()

Bushwacker, you, you animal, you! :D
« Last Edit: July 16, 2011, 01:22:50 pm by LivingProof »

jim-ratliff

  • 6+ Year Member
  • 1000 Posts
  • ******
  • Posts: 2739
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #7 on: July 16, 2011, 02:56:52 pm »
Living Proof:

Good point.  Most chains have some sort of idler pulley to eliminate chain whip. On a mountain (or road) bike I think the derailleur also serves that function. A single speed may get large shock loadings every time the rider transitions from coasting to pedaling, and especially when coasting down and then pedaling hard up the other side.
"If you're gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right."

Svend

  • 4-6 Year Member
  • 1000 Posts
  • ****
  • Posts: 1107
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2011, 08:25:56 am »
Great pics Josh.  Keep 'em coming.  Looks like a mountain biking paradise there. 

I especially like that you posted pictures of, and talked about, the natural beauty of the area.  It wasn't just all tech talk, or how hard/fast/far/high you rode.  A nice balance of trail description, your ride experience, and what you actually saw in the forest (pic of fungi) or from the tops of the hills (landscape pics).  Well done!

Seems to me that many people in this sport, as in skiing, are out there with blinders on, and never actually SEE anything except their front tire and the trail ahead of it.  Too bad for them, as they miss the point, and miss much of what should be a bigger experience.

Oh, and BTW, I also liked your response to the guys dissing the spandex.  Too funny.  They obviously have never done a three hour trail ride wearing baggies.  Fashion be darned, those things are killers. 

« Last Edit: July 20, 2011, 01:12:38 pm by Svend »

bushwacka

  • Instructor
  • 400 Posts
  • **
  • Posts: 471
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2011, 01:48:56 pm »
Great pics Josh.  Keep 'em coming.  Looks like a mountain biking paradise there. 

I especially like that you posted pictures of, and talked about, the natural beauty of the area.  It wasn't just all tech talk, or how hard/fast/far/high you rode.  A nice balance of trail description, your ride experience, and what you actually saw in the forest (pic of fungi) or from the tops of the hills (landscape pics).  Well done!

Seems to me that many people in this sport, as in skiing, are out there with blinders on, and never actually SEE anything except their front tire and the trail ahead of it.  Too bad for them, as they miss the point, and miss much of what should be a bigger experience.

Oh, and BTW, I also liked your response to the guys dissing the spandex.  Too funny.  They obviously have never done a three hour trail ride wearing baggies.  Fashion be darned, those things are killers.

thank bud. Truth be told I do alot of riding that is binders on. That is normally training/high intensity riding for short periods of time. On longer ride I am looking to

A. first and foremost find fun trail
B. find cool spots that are other wise hard to access.
C. sometimes see what else is going on.

Without longer riders, it is hard to the shorter ones and vice a versa. They build off each other. long low intensity rides are the building blocks of solid cycling training program.

On the spandex thing, I use to never wear it. I won a pair of bib shorts back when I raced sport in XC, and after trying them for the first time they were so much more comfortable in every way possible. I will never do long XC rides in baggies again. Also you know how my girls will compliment it? lots. I just think alot of guys have beer guts and want to hide that fact or something. My new deal on 'casual" group rider to not look like a some dick racer is to wear board shorts over my bibs. still so much more comfortable than MTB baggy shorts.

Svend

  • 4-6 Year Member
  • 1000 Posts
  • ****
  • Posts: 1107
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #10 on: July 20, 2011, 02:05:39 pm »
thank bud. Truth be told I do alot of riding that is binders on. That is normally training/high intensity riding for short periods of time. On longer ride I am looking to

A. first and foremost find fun trail
B. find cool spots that are other wise hard to access.
C. sometimes see what else is going on.

Without longer riders, it is hard to the shorter ones and vice a versa. They build off each other. long low intensity rides are the building blocks of solid cycling training program.

On the spandex thing, I use to never wear it. I won a pair of bib shorts back when I raced sport in XC, and after trying them for the first time they were so much more comfortable in every way possible. I will never do long XC rides in baggies again. Also you know how my girls will compliment it? lots. I just think alot of guys have beer guts and want to hide that fact or something. My new deal on 'casual" group rider to not look like a some dick racer is to wear board shorts over my bibs. still so much more comfortable than MTB baggy shorts.

Ha! That is hilarious! My daughters recently forbade me to wear spandex, at least when I ride with them.  We had more than a few family laugh-fests over that topic.  If you watch the TV show Modern Family, there was an episode where Cam wore spandex shorts to the gym and caused a bit of a stir.  You can imagine the off-hand comments that got tossed my way from the girls after they saw that......  ::)   Disrespectful little urchins!  So now I do exactly what you do -- wear loose board shorts over my spandex.  I'm still comfortable, and the fashion police got their subject to comply  ;D 

And I hear you about the intense training / riding with blinders on.  In the racing world, it's a necessity.  Nothing to criticize there....it's all good.  Just saying that it's great that you also take the time to ride just for the fun of it, to get out in the woods and fields, find a fun trail and relax and enjoy.  And that you post that experience on the blog and share it.  Good on ya!



 
« Last Edit: July 20, 2011, 02:09:49 pm by Svend »

jim-ratliff

  • 6+ Year Member
  • 1000 Posts
  • ******
  • Posts: 2739
Re: Sterling Valley, VT - pic TR [o]
« Reply #11 on: July 20, 2011, 03:23:48 pm »
Josh: 

Just went back looking for the Spandex comments (I had only looked at the pictures and your commentary before) and found that that the poster used the name Jim.

I just wanted to say that the Spandex critic wasn't me.  I wear bike shorts all the time, no matter which bike, no one is admiring the way I look, and I don't care.  I'll usually have a pair of regular shorts in the car in case I make a stop driving to and from a ride, but people can look at me weird all they want.  Even bike shorts with a chamois liner don't hold a candle to an average pair of road bike shorts.  I think the Performance Bike Elite shorts work amazingly well for less than $60.

And I also find that looser fitting shorts get hung up more on the nose of the saddle or even on the back of the saddle and also allow you to slide around more.

In fact, early in ski season I will sometimes wear a pair of compression shorts I have (no chamois) just because it seems to keep the blood flowing in my legs.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2011, 03:25:39 pm by jim-ratliff »
"If you're gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right."